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Uniqlo has been a bit of a dark horse competitor in the fast fashion x buzzy designer collab contest. Instead of teasing for months, the retailer announced a collab with Helmut Lang designer Alexandre Plokhov and dropped the full lookbook within the same week. It easily rivaled Target and H&M's projects in terms of price point and quality. Now, it has announced its next move: The old Uniqlo x Jil Sander +J brand is being revived for a special collection of greatest hits which will start hitting shelves this month.
Uniqlo carried +J for five seasons before ending the collaboration in Spring 2011. According to WWD, Jil Sander is not involved in the revival. The collection will consist of 42 pieces that the brand considers the collab's greatest hits, including 27 men's pieces and 15 women's pieces, and it will launch in every one of Uniqlo's global markets except for Russia. There's no word yet on whether the collection will continue beyond the Fall 2014 season.
Update: The official press release from Uniqlo states that the collection will be priced from $39.90 to $229.90. It will launch exclusively in the US at its new Philly store, opening on October 3. On October 10, the collection will be available at Uniqlo.com and in these US cities: New York (Fifth Ave., Soho, and 34th St.), Boston (Legacy Place), New Jersey (Garden State Plaza), San Francisco (Powell Street), and LA (South Coast Plaza, Northridge, Glendale Galleria, Beverly Center).
· Uniqlo Revives +J Brand [WWD]
· Yaaaas: Alexandre Plokhov for Uniqlo Images (and Prices) Are Here! [Racked]
· Uniqlo's US CEO On How The Chain Keeps Its Prices So Low [Racked]